1940.03.02 “Quest in the Dark Forest”
by Walter J Enright (1879-1969)
23 x 30 in., grease pencil on board
Coppola Collection
https://www.nytimes.com/1969/01/20/archives/walter-j-enright-93-dies-former-political-cartoonist.html
A native of Chicago, Enright studied at the Chicago Art Institute. He was listed as an artist in the 1900 census, while he was still living in parents’ household in Chicago. His first wife, Maginel, was an illustrator and the younger sister of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In addition to his work for various newspapers, he also illustrated children's books, including at least one by Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum: “Father Goose’s Year Book: Quaint Quacks and Feathered Shafts for Mature Children.” Enright was with the “Miami Herald” from 1933 to 1943, and the “Palm Beach Post” from 1943 to 1948.
In February and March of 1940 Sumner Welles, the U.S. Under Secretary of State, visited four European capitals to speak with the leaderships of Italy, Germany, France, and Great Britain. He was undertaking a mission that he and President Franklin Roosevelt had conceived at the turn of the year. It took place during the period known as the “phony war,” when a lack of actual fighting on the Western Front seemed to provide a moment to take stock before the expected onslaught in the spring. Welles arrived in Berlin on March 1.
